Incandescence
by Riiskaa
Summary: When a Buizel loses her only family, her quest for revenge takes her on a journey she never imagined possible. Rated T now because I read the rating thingy wrong. Whoops! Buizel first person POV. Comfreakingplete!
1. Do You Remember?

**Incandescence - Prologue**

The waves are rolling just like I remember.

The ocean, it's still blue, as is the sky. There are deep gray clouds gathering in the distance. I smile.

There is still white sand on the beach. My smile is fading. What is this? There is gray mixed roughly in with the soft grains of sand. I feel my feet sinking into the mixture and it difficult to walk and run. I run my front paw over the top of the beach and smell it. It smells of fire. It is ash.

It is our ash. The ashes of Ailis and the Phoenix Town Lifeguard Rescue Team. Of my trainer and my teammates. And almost of me. Part of me is glad that their ashes are here, on our beach, and not in some vase in a funeral home or maybe even Ailis' parents' house. It is selfish, but it is the truth. It is almost like I can feel them in between my toes and in my soul. In my heart.

There is naught left, and yet I am content.

The waves roll up and lick at my paws. My eyes travel over the shoreline, and as they do, I become aware of something. My buoys are still there. The little red and white ones that coast along with the gushing of the waves. They are still weighed down by the cinderblocks. I am happy.

There are steps behind me. A tall, lean Houndoom walks up next to me and nuzzles my face. Despite whom he is, and what he has done, I do not hate him. I love him.

He reminds me I should be resting. I argue back that I have been away for awhile and that I'm not doing anything extreme. I am only watching. He will not give up. I give in and we walk back to Jillian who has been watching me, I think, watching me reminisce. She has tears in her eyes. I smile. I stop and place a hand over my stomach. I feel a kick. The dark fire dog has come up beside me. He smiles. Jillian smiles.

We are back in the hotel. I am finished recording my story. I am to read it and retell my story to the people and pokemon around me. I hope I don't choke up while I'm telling it.

Don't worry, I tell my friends who around me.

My story has a happy ending.


	2. My Life

A/N: It's rated M (12/23 and up) for violence and now some mild swear words.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon...--'

**Incandescence – Chapter 1**

The cold night was just that; cold. The moon was a small crescent in the sky, and most of the trees were green. Some of the leaves had begun to turn red, but only the ends. Darkness blanketed the lands. The moon disappeared behind a clump of dark, dark gray clouds. All was not well.

A small Houndour ran through a tall forest. He was panting, sweating, and tired. He had just traveled who knows how long, from his current destination to Phoenix Town and now he was on his way back to the hideout where his trainer and fellow fire pokemon were hiding out.

He stopped and sniffed the ground. He was on the right track, and getting closer. He could smell the flames. His trainer was always around the sun or a campfire. All of his teammates were fire type too. The young Houndour glanced up at the sky and spent a few moments looking at the moon. Since he was a dark type too, he enjoyed the moonlight on his dark fur and the cool night air on his face.

Soon the dog pokemon had reached the site where his team was resting. He strutted into the cave and the scratching of his claws on the rock let his presence be known.

Around a large fire in the middle of the cave, there was a Charizard, a Camerupt, a Blaziken, an Infenape, and a Magcargo, who stopped their conversing to look at the new arrival. The Houndour bowed with his nose touching the ground until a shadow from the back of the cave emerged and spoke.

"News, Zaakir?" the shadow asked.

Zaakir nodded while still bowing. He barked "Yes, master."

It stepped forward more so that its face was seen. It was female, with brown hair, and brown eyes. Houndour thought she was dreadful though. He could feel her eyes on him.

"You may rise."

Quietly he rose to his feet and looked to his trainer. He barked again, and wrote 'tomorrow' on the cave floor with his claw.

"Yes, yes..." The girl turned and began pacing the cave. "You all know," she began again. "That we have been planning our ambush on those jerks, Ailis and her team of water pokemon, for some time now."

Zaakir replaced himself next to Makigai the Magcargo and awaited the rest of her long speech.

There was a chorus of "yes master" among the six.

She cleared her throat. "Zaakir has confirmed that tomorrow will be one of the busiest days at Phoenix Town beach, where it will be best that he sneak into their home and wait until nightfall when they sleep. That is the best time to strike." The girl walked around the circle and handed each a piece of paper.

"So it's set then." said Agni the Charizard as he studied the paper.

The Camerupt, Udia, nodded. "I guess so."

Of course, the girl couldn't understand them. She only pretended to know what they were saying. Underneath, she was clueless. She had never been very smart. Like this plan of hers that her pokemon held in their hands, she hadn't even come up with it herself. Her father, who lived on a far off secluded Island, had sent along his Charizard Agni to reinforce the plan and make sure that it went according. So the girl just nodded at Agni and after telling them that they would not fail her, retreated into the depths of the cave to sleep.

Zaakir stuck his tongue out at her and shouted "You suck!" as she left. Agni was the only one who laughed.

He patted the dog pokemon on his back. "You've got spirit, kid. I never thought she was too bright either." The others only stared and scowled. They had yet to discover who she really was. Soon the rest of the fire pokemon had retreated back into the cave. Zaakir lifted his feet and climbed to the entrance of the cave to look at the moon. He had a bad feeling about this...

---

Light flooded our room and seeped through the cracks in the drawn curtains. It was early, but a work day. Translation, I had absolutely no choice but to get up that morning.

Being lazy, one of my eyes cracked open to watch my trainer stir loudly in her sleep. I swerved my gaze to the digital alarm clock next to her bed. It read 6:34, or at least I think it did. "Damn," I growled under my breath and covered my eyes with my furry orange arm. I let out a sigh before the clock struck 6:35 and the alarm was set off.

Ailis flew out of bed. Screaming.

"Nooooo," I cried, and wriggled back under the covers. This was our daily routine.

"Gooood morning SuperBubbles!" and the warmth was gone. Ailis was holding my blanket in her hands and standing over my bed, a large pillow with a water drop on it. Oh yes, my nickname. Ailis was a good trainer, but...not very good with giving nicknames. She wasn't the most creative person I've ever met, but she was the kindest. So SuperBubbles the Buizel I was.

She moved about the room in an arabesque manner, skipping around her bed as she made it. The short blonde haired girl opened the curtains to let the light flow in more freely, and I curled up my body into a small ball. Suddenly I hit the floor. When I looked up, Ailis was holding my pillow and standing in the doorway.

I got up and waited at the threshold of our bedroom, looking out into the kitchen. Ailis was at the stove, no doubt, making breakfast. I growled once and trotted into the room to take my place at the table.

After breakfast, Ailis went to open the gate to the beach that we lived on and Ailis's father owned. She had also let out the rest of the team; Empy the Empoleon, Skipper the Swampert, Gully the Wingull, SuperFreezey the Dewgong, and Speedy the Slowking. Like I said, she wasn't very good with names. But oh, my teammates, I remember them so well, I can almost see them when I close my eyes. We rescued many people during the time we were on duty as a life guard team on Phoenix Town Beach.

Our waters were infested with many Sharpedo, who, no offence to Sharpedo lovers, aren't very smart. I mean, if you can't tell a human apart from a Seel or a Sealeo, are you really a very smart creature? So occasionally, there'd be a bite or an attack, in which we had to 'get into action', as Empy would say.

"_TREEEEE! TREEEEEE! TREEEEEE!_" Ailis blew on her whistle. "Everyone out of the water!" The beachgoers fled the water like a pack of stampeding Tauros. Gully flapped his wings and set off from Ailis's shoulder to over the great blue waters. He scoured the depths, or at least that's what it looked like from where I was standing, and circled over a dark part of the water. The blackness was actually a school of Sharpedo; they passed through the beach around that time every year, because their breeding grounds where just around the other side of the edge of the Nye Region.

There was a cry. I scanned the sea. Just inside the buoys, you know, those little white and red ones, there was a small boy, he couldn't have been older then six, floating along with an inner tube, crying. Gully was still circling, indicating that they were still distracted from the boy. It was time. SuperFreezey and I dove into the water and swam out to him. He swam up to the surface and waved at Speedy, who was on shore. Speedy lifted the child up out of the water, and SuperFreezey used an Ice Beam attack to create an icy slide for the boy to slide down on to the beach. Meanwhile I swam out to the Sharpedo school, like I did every year.

"Hey," I greeted them. One nodded at me.

"We be passin' through 'ere kindly, ya 'ear, you sea dog?"

Another nodded. "Please, kind sea dog, let us pass. We mean no 'arm."

I wavered about in the water for a moment, until SuperFreezey sent an Aurora Beam my way to tell me that all was set.

"All right, enjoy the rest of the year. You can pass."

As I shook my fur of the water coating me onto the soft, white sand, my Dewgong friend swam up to the shore next to me. We smiled and gave each other a high-paw/flipper.

Ailis snapped me from my reverie. She had opened the gates, and already some people were starting to arrive at the beach. I looked from the beach entrance to her.

"Bubbles, stop spacing out and go check the buoys!" she smiled and headed off back to the house. Ironic, I know, It was my job to check the buoys everyday before the beach opened.

I tested the water with my paw and shivered. The sun was not over the hills fully yet. I dove into the water and sank down to where a few cinder blocks weighed down the buoys so they didn't float away. It didn't take long. I doubted everyday as I did my job that they would ever float away.

When the shore was safely back under my feet, I looked to the gates. Ailis was standing there, but to who she was talking to, I frowned. It was Amber, our team's rival, with brown eyes and brown hair and an awful attitude. She was a fire-type only trainer. I'm sure you've guessed by now Ailis only trained water-type, but only because her family had, and her father had wanted her to take over Phoenix Town Beach one day. Ailis loved all Pokemon. I spied a small pokemon next to Amber. It was my Houndour friend, Zaakir. He smiled when he saw me dripping wet on the shoreline.

I didn't see Zaakir at all that day though. He seemed to have disappeared somewhere during the day as more and more visitors came and went from the beach. It was a busy day, that's for sure. One of the busiest I had ever seen. It would be the last one, too.

After a long day, Amber and her team were the last ones to leave. She called her fire pokemon back into their pokeballs and boarded Agni's back. I watched them fly off into the sky.

The next thing I know, I'm sleeping soundly in my bed again. But I knew something was amiss when I heard scurrying in the middle of the night. I dismissed it as nothing, but in truth, it wasn't.

I coughed up smoke as I ran to the shore in a haze. Everything was foggy and gray. For a few minutes I couldn't breathe. I looked behind me. My home was in flames. For a moment all I could think of was my team and Ailis. Are they all right? What's happening? Why aren't any of the others out here?

There was a flapping up in the sky. It was Amber, and Agni. He had a sad look on his face. "No..." I whispered. "It can't..."

Zaakir was next to me the next thing I remember. Everything is so hazy...

He was telling me, "Everything will be alright, I'm so sorry..."

But, what happened?

Amber was smiling.

My home was burning.

The rest of the team was in their pokeballs...

Ailis...

Ailis was dead.

That day changed my life. For better or for worse, I'm still not sure.


	3. Higeki's Farewell

Yikes! Thanks for the reviews **torayuri **and **Cune** !! They mean a lot! Anyways, I made up some stuff in this here chapter, like the names and the inside of the pokeball. I kind of thought about it and had a new outlook on what the heck they could be doing in there. Some swear words, and boy, I don't like using 'em, but I want to give "SuperBubbles" here a personality. Enjoy.

**Incandescence – Chapter 2**

We were still sitting on the beach. The Houndour at my side was trying to comfort me, but really didn't do a very good job.

"No!" I shouted as I threw Zaakir from around me and into the sand. "Everything won't be okay! You killed my only family!"

Zaakir had hurt in his eyes. Well he wasn't the only one. "Higeki..."

Of course. Zaakir always refused to call me by my nickname. He always called it "too childish for me". My muzzle was now in my paws and wet tears were flowing down my face. "Why can you call me my real name but you make me stick to that ugly Zaakir?! I liked you better when you were Oboeru!"

Naturally, all pokemon born in the wild have given names already. Our given names, whether it is from our parents or from our clan's god, we all have a name, a secret name that our trainers must never, ever know. If ever they do find out, something terrible happens. Or at least that's how I heard it.

Sometimes our nicknames, or the names our trainers give us, are reworked into our systems, and even our peers come to forget our real names. Sometimes even we forget our real names, and some Pokemon believe that it's stupid to have a real name in the first place or think that we should forget our real names, but not me. Higeki would always be a part of me.

I do think, however, that our names are chosen with some form of destiny intertwined with them. Ever since Ailis died and my home was burned down, I somehow knew that my name meant Tragedy for a reason.

"Get away from me and leave me alone! I never want to see you again!" I pushed past Zaakir and suddenly it hit me: Where was I going? My home was burned down, I had no Idea where my parents and old clan was now, and Phoenix town would just lead to getting captured by another trainer, which I was going to avoid _at all costs_. So, that meant, that the only way to go, was out to sea. And best of all, unlike on land, Zaakir couldn't follow me into the ocean. So that's where I turned to.

The water was freezing like you wouldn't believe. I think I almost froze my ass off. All the way out until a mile out off of shore, I could hear him calling "Higeki!!!!!", but then, it stopped. I cried as I swam. Well, at least he had stopped. That _was _pretty annoying.

Oboeru, or Zaakir, as he called himself now, had always been my friend, ever since once upon a time when Amber and Ailis were friends. Those happy times...will always be in my heart. But there was something wrong with Amber...you know, 'upstairs'. Over the years...I don't know, I guess I just developed feelings for the loveable canine. He'd never know, though. Not now. I wasn't about to keep loving someone who destroyed everything that was held dear to me. But it wasn't that easy.

I think it was about an hour before I stopped swimming and surfaced, inflating my inner-tube like collar on and off during the whole swim. I tried to get some rest, but I quickly felt my strength fading. If I didn't get help soon, I feared I wouldn't make it to see tomorrow.

Only did my newly found require for revenge keep me alive. Only thinking, "She wants me dead. I have to live. I have to defy her. Revenge," kept me alive. Yikes.

The night was cold. Aren't nights always? I pondered that too, as I bobbed about. The conclusion was me wishing it was summertime and I was in a Jacuzzi.

The sun rose so slowly, but that only gave me more time to enjoy it. It was the next day, finally. The night had been the longest night to ever befall the world. To my misfortune, during the coldest friggin night of the year I was floating in the middle of who knows where. I was getting hungry. And thirsty. Such a longing for something so abundant all around you...it is kind of strange. To be floating in the ocean and want more water. Guess it wasn't strange for me though...Since I was about the strangest person I had ever known.

I turned a full circle and blinked my salty black eyes a couple of times; Nye was so far away, but still in view. A few times I thought about swimming back, but decided against it when I thought about what would be awaiting me. But where was I going now? This floating thing was getting _pret_ty boring.

My fur was seriously deteriorating. It was kind of disgusting, but at least it was something to think about other than "This is an unfortunate way to die." Really, you would never guess that thinking about if you were going to have bald spots or not when you reached land would keep you alive, or even if it was any better than telling your self you were going to die. But, I guess that it was the "_when _I get back" part that kept me afloat. Because you see, I was not, in any way or form, looking forward to bald spots.

I think it was day five of floating I really got tired. My eyes were almost constantly closed, and Nye had gotten even farther away. I felt like I was dying; and let me tell you, it was not a good feeling. I started wishing then that something would just come along and eat me up already when I thought about how the heck I was supposed to get revenge. What a total drag.

The water rolled and carried me up and down. There was water in my ears and eyes and my mouth too, but it was so salty. There really wasn't much more to it than that. I thought about Zaakir more and more, and the more I did, the more my heart began to ache as much as my body. My limbs were sore and I was starting to get salt water blisters in very uncomfortable places.

I coughed once or twice and looked around. Blue, blue, blue...so much blue. Even the _sky _was blue for Itachi's sake. (Itachi being the Weasel Pokemon God, of course.) Damn it, my own arm-fins were blue! I was about to kill my self! It was a windy day too. All I could friggin smell was salt, though. Yuck. I don't remember how many times I upchucked out there because of the smell and the taste. Let me tell you, these days, I never eat _any_thing with salt. Sigh. Despite the conditions, I took a salty breath and poked my head underwater, and would you guess it, I was just in time to see a large, dark blue fish swim directly underneath me. I pulled up to the surface in a rush so fast my head began to hurt. "What the bloody hell was that?" I pondered. I dared to check again. Only this time, there were many more, and they stopped.

It was the school of Sharpedo. One swam up to my face. "'ey, look, it's the sea dog! 'Owdy, partner!"

"Uh, hello..." I answered uncertainly. I hated them calling me 'sea dog', on the inside. I really did.

"What're you doin' out 'ere, doggy?" another one asked.

"Yeah, I thought you's was a...whaddya call 'em...lifey protector back at the beach!" There was a chorus of "Yeah!" among the rest.

I tried to explain, "Well, I am, but you see, I..." Should I have told them the real story? I don't know why, but I wanted to avoid telling it. Maybe it was because I didn't want to believe it. "I got lost and...Ended up here." Wow. That was pathetic. Lying wasn't my thing.

But they didn't seem to notice. I shouldn't have been surprised though, they were pretty dull. "Oh! Well, we's could take ya to where we're 'eaded, it ain't too far from 'ere."

Nod. "Sure, I guess that's alright..." Man, I really wished they would depart and leave me to die. Anything was superior to dealing with these hillbillies. Like buck toothed sharks are the last things anyone wants to perceive before they die a horrible salty death.

So, again, despite my conditions, I took another full-size breath and held on to one of the Sharpedo's dorsal fins, which was very coarse, and impaired the pads of my paws. I still have scars.

I had to ask the Sharpedo onto which I was holding to surface a couple times so I could refill on air supplies. Otherwise, it was a pretty o.k. ride. Many schools of fish swam by and called a friendly "Hello" or "Greetings, foreigner!", like the Luvdisc and Gorebyss. Their shiny pink scales shimmered and reflected a beautiful pink light onto everything they passed. They were welcoming to a stranger weasel. We once again were getting close to Nye, but to a division of it I had never been to prior. Nye was a large island off of the Sinnoh region; not too big to have its own Pokemon League Challenge, but not too small to only be called an Island. I had called it home all my life.

They didn't take me to shore, but to a shallow part of the water near it. It was still remote though, and I passed out from exhaustion before I reached it.

My last thoughts were something along the lines of "Damn it, this totally sucks."

---

He sat on the shore for who knows how long. He had been crying, but his tears were gone now. Three days of crying are enough to drain anyone of tears and energy. Solemnly he cursed himself. He should have just run away that night, when the bad feeling, the guilt, had started to appear. Now she...Higeki...was gone. He couldn't follow her. She knew that. The water would sting his skin and burn him like fire would burn a human. He wondered if her views of dark Pokemon had faltered too. He felt like killing himself. Surely there was nothing left now that she was gone?

Zaakir stood up and silently walked off of Phoenix Town Beach, but to where, he was not sure.

---

Slowly, I came to. There was a tugging feeling on my body, as if I were being sucked into a black hole. Well that would have been a logical explanation to me right then, since everything around me was black. I kept thinking that this was it, that my paws were scarred and bleeding and that I was half drowned and I was practically _made_ of salt by now, for absolutely nothing. I lived just to die by being sucked into a giant black hole in the middle of the sky or the sea or wherever the bloody hell I was. Until I opened my eyes that is.

Magically, I was moving on my own. Damn it, I would have been glad if there was something pulling me. I probably wouldn't have felt so crazy right then. And if it wasn't blue, even better. I was sure I felt something pulling me though, but...what the hell was? There was zilch there! "Hello?" I called.

"Hello." Answered something very undetectable.

It was there in front of me. I was sure. "I'm dreaming, I must be dreaming..." I said to no one in particular. They say that people who are stuck out to sea _do _tend to go crazy...That was surely logical. But, flying Piloswine seemed logical just then.

"You're not dreaming."

"Okay, now I'm seriously freaked out..."

Where was this thing? Certainly, if it was a thing, I was almost positive I knew what was on the dinner menu. And there would be, you guessed it, lots of salt in it. Okay, I might be beating the salt thing a _little _too much.

It wasn't below me, or to my left or right. It was in front of me. I stuck out a very wet and _salty_ paw and waved it about in front of me. I touched something.

I screamed.

The thing, it started screaming too. Then like, out of absolutely nowhere, there appeared a _blue_...thing. My vision wasn't too clear, but it sure as hell was there. And IT WAS BLUE.

"Who the hell _are _you?" And why are you so blue? Why is everything so blue! I hate blue! I tried to push it off of me, but it was holding on really tight...either that, or the sea had really taken its tolls on me.

The mysterious figure laughed. "I'm Ren! Who're _you_?"

"I'm...Higeki." This creature sure was friendly...It was helping me to...wait, it was helping me? I felt myself dragged upon something that felt like a beach. It was course and felt like grain, but not the soft, white sand on Phoenix Town Beach. More rocky, and rough, and it smelled unfamiliar. I looked up. There was a taller figure, it looked like a human. It held a towel. It wrapped me in it. It wiped my eyes. _Thank Itachi._

It was a human. It was tall, and blonde, and tan...kind of like Ailis. I blinked again. It was smiling at me. I looked to Ren, who was standing on the beach, looking at me with his head cocked to the side. So that's why I didn't see him, he was a Vaporeon. He must have...melted into the water, or whatever they do. He smiled.

The human spoke again. "Good work Ren."

Just as I was about to smile, something happened.

This human pulled out a Pokeball.

I cried, but I was too weak. I was an easy catch.

I felt the red light warm my insides and my fur alike, and I was sucked into the place Ailis had never dared to place me.

With a thud I landed on something solid. It was soft...It was grass. It was very green too. The smell was fresh, like the Combee nests and the delicious honey they sold at the Pokemarts back home. I was almost tempted to take a large bite of it out of pure hunger. But I resisted and lifted myself up into a sitting position. It was paradise, I was sure of it. There was a river not too far away and a mountain in the distance. The river...I never thought I could hear a sound so sweet. My paws moved me to the edge of the bank. It was clear and clean...and it was the freshest water I had ever tasted in my life. For the first time in awhile I looked at my reflection clearly, and immediately my eyes were my enemies. I would have swallowed the whole river if I could have, but I was rudely interrupted.

It was a Floatzel, and a large one. It was smiling.

"I bet you're wondering where you are, aren't you?"

Uhh, ok? I nodded. Who did this guy think he was, anyways? Couldn't he see I was trying to enjoy the many wonders a river can hold for one little drowned Buizel?

"Let me explain to you." He began, like he had done this before, like billions of times or something. It was kind of annoying. "This is Pokeball Place. More specifically, Buizel and Floatzel territory."

"Sure." What can I say, I was hungry and irritated. And very, very disappointed with the welcoming committee in this "Pokeball Place".

He didn't seem affected by my rude response. "Well, you see, whenever a Buizel or Floatzel is sent into his or her pokeball, they come here, to Pokeball Place. There is a specific place here for each type of pokemon, and each species."

"Okay, you lost me at 'Well, you see'."

He sighed and placed a paw on my shoulder. "I know, it might be difficult to understand for you, but...this is it. You're captured. You're not going back to the wild. This is the only wild you'll ever get from now on."

Ok, I already kind of knew that. Way to go Higeki. You made yourself look like an idiot in front of this idiot. Let's all have an idiot party. And guess what? We'll all dance...like idiots.

This...idiot...explained to me in excruciating detail about this Pokeball Place. I don't want to bore you with the details. All you really need to know is that you wish you could go there. Idiot also explained that when your trainer wants you to come out, a door will appear in front of you...somehow. And it has your name on it. Well "Whoop dee doo," I said, that I did.

After he left me alone, ("Well finally..." I said to myself.) I never knew about this place I guess because _I _was the one who went looking for _Ailis_. She never had to put me in a pokeball. So I took that time as an opportunity to explore this new place. Ha! Yeah right, as if I'd ever. I went back to the river.

The cool liquid drained down my throat. Ah, that was some good water right there. When finished, I guess I just sat there and thought.

_This, is great. Juuuussstttt great. Didn't you tell yourself you wouldn't get caught again? Can't you see the immenseness...wait, holy Miltank, where'd I learn such a big word? I don't think I've ever used that word before...Just sort of... CAME...Maybe it's this water...Ohhhh yes, it's definitely this water! That's why Idiot was so smart! HAHA, an Idiot being smart. Maybe I'll like it here...Wait, here?! Where is here? Oh, right, can't you see the immenseness of your situation? Ailis is dead and you go and repay her by getting caught by some...other...trainer?! How are you going to get revenge now? Here's the deal, Higeki, either they help you, or they hold you back. For your sake, you better hope they help you!_

The ground now had several claw marks in it. After realizing, as my conscience said, the immenseness of my situation, my indifference to all of this turned to rage. You would not want to run into me in a dark alley. And since causing structural damage wasn't going to make my situation any better, I picked myself up off my haunches and began to walk around. And wouldn't you know it, that strange door appeared in front of me just as I was about to follow Idiot's scent and ask him more about the place we were in.

The door was small, and Idiot was right; Higeki was written plainly in a gold plaque on the top. I stared at it a moment before it opened and that red light that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy engulfed me and the next thing I know the not so grassy ground was beneath my feet and the not so sweet smell of reality was in my nose.

The human cooed. "Aww, aren't you just the cutest!"

Spare me. Please.

She was wearing a blue shirt.

---

Sorry that took kind of long but I just got Diamond Version and I've been playing like crazy. Here's my team:

Level 17 "Empy" (Prinplup)

Level 16 "Neko" (Luxio)

Level 12 "Estrella" (Starly)

Level 8 "Ama" (Buizel YAY)

Level 8 "Komori" (Zubat)

Level 7 "Raiko" (Pachirisu)

It's not the best, but it's mine. I loooves my Neko -


	4. Doohickey Dread

Oh my goodness you guys are the best ever! Thanks to **torayuri, TheThinker, Cune, **and** Sirnight777 **for helping me to reach SIX REVIEWS! That's one more than my other story! You guys are my inspiration to write and you keep me going! This chapter is dedicated to you . And don't worry, there's more Zaakir and unfortunately more Amber. Who we learn a little more about. Enjoy.

**Incandescence – Chapter 3**

My stupid conscience seemed to be appearing more often, bugging me about how I was supposed to get revenge on that witch and be a trainer's Pokemon all at once. I think I asked Ren more than once to please kill me.

Two weeks I had been with my new team and my new trainer, whose name was Jillian. It was really quite odd though, how similar Ailis and Jillian were in looks. I still kind of get that feeling that Ailis is watching over me through Jill's eyes.

We were on a ferry to Sinnoh, which even after two weeks I was still reluctant about going on. We were off to see Jillian's boyfriend, or someone, I don't remember how she described him at the time. Surely none of my new teammates realized what ordeals I had been through in the sea and I never _ever _wanted to see it, not ever, EVER, again. And yet, here I was, on a ferry. Sure, I could have stayed in my bunk the whole time, or gone into my Pokeball (which I never chose to freely), but after I thought about it, the only thing I could think about was "what's the point in that?" I might as well have had some fun.

The metal railings of the boat were cold on my healing paws. Jillian had taken me to a Pokemon Center right after she caught me, and they had healed most of the scars on my paws and thank goodness gave me a bath. That was when I met my new teammates for the first time.

They were watching me get a bath from the sidelines. Strange thing is, they were looking on with serious curiosity. So I _seriously _screamed at them to "Give me a little privacy please!?!?"

A Bayleef, and a strong looking one, was the first to speak. Well, not really speak. She burst out laughing. I smacked her. We're good friends. I truly forget her real name, but everyone there called her Tola.

Next were two Ninetails, they looked to be twins. They were also laughing. I water gunned them. We're good friends too. And even thought they look like twins, they're very different in personality. One's very hyper, likes to talk a LOT, and the other is stuck to her beliefs and has made many enemies along the way. I love them like the better sisters I never had. Who knows where my real sisters are now, though. My fiery friends were Anala and Keahi in that order.

Of course, the other two of my teammates were boys, so they were waiting in the main lobby. They were a very hyper Venusaur named Yuga and of course, Ren. Ren was just...indescribable.

Like I said, I was hanging over the edge of the ferry, with my forepaws on the railing and my hind legs on my tippy-toes. The water was rushing by not too fast, but not too slow either. It was still that disgusting blue, and it still smelled of saltwater. There was a ton of seaweed too. I stuck out my tongue at it as it passed.

Ren came upon me like this. He found my despise for the sea quite entertaining. I did not however.

"Are you just going to stand there like that for the whole boat ride?" He half-laughed as he asked.

"Why shouldn't I?" I said with a scowl on my face.

He came up beside my and nudged me with his elbow. "Jill wants to see you; she sent me out here to come fetch you. I think she's waiting in her bunk."

"Wonder what it is _this_ time." I asked myself as I rolled my eyes.

Ren didn't seem to catch the eye role. "How should I know?"

"It's called a rhetorical question, dumbass. Get with it."

"Oh..."

Quickly we trotted down to the cabin entrance and entered the hallway through a small flap in the door. "You know, the last few times she's asked to see me, she looks at me real close like, then shakes her head and says 'No', and tells me I can leave. Don't you think she could do that with_out _wasting my time? I have things to do, you know."

"...Ren?"

"Oh, were you talking to me?"

Sigh. "Nevermind..."

We slipped into another small door into a small cabin room to find Jillian waiting for us on her bed with the biggest smile on her face.

---

A nameless figure walked down a long, black tiled hallway. He was wearing a black uniform with a red 'R' on it. The only thing on this mans mind was to alert the bosses daughter in her room just ahead about the new creation down in the science lab.

This nameless figure didn't really enjoy being a Team Rocket member, but it paid his bills and debts and his father was a member too, so it was expected of him to join and help them complete their plans for world domination. That was just about every other TR members excuse lately. The new plan they were going through with wasn't exactly benefiting them like the previous ones had, and the pay was even less lately.

He reached his destination, a pink door with a large 'A' on it.

The man knocked on the door and a female voice came from inside, "Come in."

Our Rocket member opened the door to the room. "Giovanni wishes to see you in the lab, miss."

Amber smiled and laughed. "So daddy's men are finally finished with the Glebal Waming Machine?"

"Um, miss, it's 'Global warming...' "

"That's what I said!" Amber spat. The man just stood there. With a smirk on her face Amber pushed past the man in her doorway and walked down the black tiled hallway from which he had come.

---

Zaakir sighed, cursed, and raked the ground with his claws in frustration. His black fur was covered in dirt and dark red dried blood. Three claw wounds were stretched and scratched fresh over his left cheek. His first -and last- try at hunting was a complete failure. The Tauros he had been trailing for the last week, it felt like, had just been stolen and taken down by a Luxio. Why was he so weak? He couldn't even take down a calf Tauros, damn it. He cursed himself again and ripped his eyes from the painful scene of the Luxio eating his former target and began to limp in the other direction. Living in the wild was harder than he though it would be.

He cringed. Moving his back leg was like getting sprayed by a Skuntank and falling into a vat of liquid ice, It stunk and it hurt, bad. He smelt of blood, and who knows what else. Like he had been sprayed by a Skuntank or something. Maybe even worse. All he could think of was food...no, wait. That wasn't it. He was thinking...thinking of Higeki, and what had befallen her. The only concern he had was 'Is she okay.' And maybe a little of 'I'm starving!!'.

It had been awhile since he had seen her swim off of Phoenix Town Beach. Even longer it'd been since he had seen her smile. The warmth that had radiated from her smile alone could warm his soul for days. But now, he was cold. Cold, alone and sad. But he braved the wilderness only for her, vowing to himself that one day he would find her again and just to see her smile one more time would give him enough strength to carry on living. But, he feared, if he didn't see her again...

Gah, he didn't want to think about it that way. She was alive, he knew it, deep down in that little flame of hope that still warmed him just enough to get him along.

Thinking about it for a second, he stood up from under the tree he was taking a rest under, and decided to try and find something to heal his leg. After all, it would be difficult to find her again with a tender leg.

---

"Alrighty, guess what I've got for you!"

"What?" I asked, but she didn't seem to understand me. I almost smacked myself. _Humans can't understand us you idiot!_

"A NICKNAME!" she screamed. I held my head in my paws.

"Shut up!" I screamed, but she just smiled again.

"I knew you'd be excited!"

All I could do was sit there, completely annoyed, and wait for her to bestow upon me another name I though would be something lame or that I really hated. Higeki, Higeki, why couldn't everyone just call me Higeki? Really, I wished they would...

"Your new nickname..."

I crossed my fingers...

"Will be..."

Please, not another SuperBubbles...

"AMA!"

...Huh?

"So, how do you like it..." she giggled in between. "Ama?"

Okay, there was some serious thinking going on in the little space I call my mind at that moment. Let's go over it, shall we?

_Hallelujah, it's not lame!_

---

It was more of a demented skip than a walk how Amber...let's say hobbled, down the hallway and into a very large, oily smelling room. It was white, and everything inside it was white. Damn, even the scientist's hair was white. What a bore. Amber scrunched up her nose in disgust, which actually was an improvement for her. She walked into the room towards the only other figure in the room wearing something besides white; her father, who was in the usual suit and tie standing next to a scientist and a large 'doohickey', as Amber really had no other words in her vocabulary to describe it.

She arrived just as the scientist began to explain. "Well you see sir; this Global Warming machine emits heavy amounts of carbon dioxide into the air directly above it. Our new goal is to warm up the earth so much so that it becomes a quite comfortable temperature for all fire pokemon all over the world. With the harsher temperatures, water pokemon around the world will begin to wither and viola! No more water pokemon. Of course, we're still working out all the bugs in the system, so it's not quiet ready yet." The scientist took a breath.

Giovanni nodded. "I see. Good job. Have those bugs worked out as soon as possible. We don't want to be kept waiting." He turned from the scientist who had now turned back to the machine and looked at his daughter's blank face.

"They're going to warm up the earth." he said plainly.

"Ohhhhh..." Amber nodded. "I'll just nod and they'll think I get it."

Giovanni looked at her strangely.

"Whoops, was that out loud?"

---

Without much time passed, Zaakir successfully found some berries that slightly healed the muscles in his hind leg and he regained the ability to run again. Now he had, again, successfully this time, targeted a Tauros and taken it down, but this time it was larger. The achievement of taking down a full grown, healthy Tauros was the pride of any hunter. The moment his fangs sunk into it windpipe and the sweet taste of its blood began to leak threw into his mouth, his mood lifted. Now the only problem was "Where am I going to get a bath?"

His kill was almost gone and the Murkrow were starting to gather around in the trees along with a few Fearow. They glared at him as he finished off the rest of what he could eat. He moved on slowly, watching behind him the birds start to get restless and fly down from the trees.

The Houndour galloped on with the grass under his feet and as he began to pick up more speed the pain in his leg almost disappeared. He arched his neck and picked up his pace. The wind through his fur was like pollen to a bee. It whipped past him and he lowered his body closed to the ground and lengthened his strides.

He was on his way to sniffing out a river when a large shadow appeared over him. When he looked up, he gasped.

---

It was a day after I had gotten my new nickname and already I was beginning to forget about Higeki. I thought and thought and thought and I thought that Ama was a much better name then anything I could have thought of myself. My team was already beginning to call me Ama on a regular basis; they were getting used to it just as well as I was. I was liking it. Easy to pronounce too. Perfect.

I was dozing lazily out on the deck belly-up with the warm sun on my face and fur and my eyes closed lightly when we docked at Sandgem Town. Well, not really docked, cause there was no dock and we had to take a life boat out to the shore, but you get my point.

Ren woke me up by smacking me in the face with his tail. I growled and chased him around the deck before he jumped into the lifeboat Jill was in and I followed.

As we were lowered to the ocean, I stuck my head over the edge and let the sea know I still didn't like it. Ren pushed me over while my head was over the side. I still despise him for that.

Soaked and wet, I swam to shore beside the boat, as Ren wouldn't let me back in. Jill told us to stop fooling around once we got to shore, and she seemed to be a little tense as we walked into the Pokemon Center in Sandgem town.

I nearly died. It was the same nurse from the Center back home! What was she, a stalker, or something?

Jill handed me over to Nurse Joy who laid me on a white table and rolled me to the back room with my trainer and Vaporeon not to far behind her.

"Just a check up. We're in a hurry." I heard Jill say, but I kind of lost what they were talking about after that.

The room I was in reminded me so much of the one back home. And my home itself, and how it was gone. I was never going back. It was then I began to think about revenge and what the point was of it all. But then I thought of Zaakir. As you know, my mind tends to wander as I think. It's a lazy old habit I have of forgetting to put it on it's leash before I let it out.

I thought about how his voice had sounded the last time I had heard him. Sad and desperate. And who was the one who had caused all of that? Who had caused him to call out in such a way, begging me to come back? At first, I thought it was he himself, but then I thought that no, it was Ambers fault. But I couldn't just blame it all on her. The decision I came to was that it was I who had caused Zaakir to become doused in such pain. So he had caused me pain, I had no right to cause him pain back. But wait, he was sad that I was leaving, going where he could not follow. Did that mean that by some chance, he really did care? My mind was pivoting.

---

Sorry this one took sooooo long, Friday I had a school dance and no chance to get on the computer; Saturday I slept over a friends house, and Sunday I worked my butt off trying to do 3 days worth of chapters. Monday I finished typing and Tuesday I had horseback riding and my dad took forrreeevvveerrr on the computer so I just re-read it and now it's up. I looked it over like 5 billion times thought so I think its okay. And no, I didn't rush it. I just wanted to get it done and I'm happy with it, pretty much, although I can't wait to start working on the next chapter!


	5. Happiness

**Incandescence - Chapter 4**

His eyes followed the shadow upwards as it swiftly flew over him. Suddenly it made a sharp turn and started to descend, as if to ram right into Zaakir. He froze. His legs were solid stiff, all except for the trembling flowing throughout his body. The large orange dragon slowly lowered itself down to the grass and smiled.

"I found you!" it said happily.

He could only observe the large Charizard before him. "Agni?"

Agni had changed much in appearance; there was a large scar over his eye and he was bruised almost all over. The flame on his tail was small and withering, not at all how Zaakir had seen it before; full and alive and dancing. Some of his orange scales were flaked off in spots. Suddenly his face became sullen and cheerless.

"Zaakir, we need to talk."

He nodded sternly. "Ok."

Agni looked away, towards the sky, like he didn't want to look him in the eyes. "Something terrible is happening..."

"What is it?" Zaakir's worry seemed to increase after his ally had spoken.

"It's Amber. She and her father are planning something horrible..."

He frowned and lowered his ears at her name. "Well what is it?"

"They're planning to warm up the earth."

"Well what's so bad about that?" the black canine asked. "Come to think of it, it'd be kind of nice instead of the cold winter." Zaakir yawned and stretched.

"But that's just the problem! They're going to warm it up so that it's so hot the earth will dry up! There won't be anymore water! Then what will become of the water Pokemon?" His next words seemed to have the desired effect as realization dawned on Zaakir's face. "What will become of _Higeki_?"

His ears flew up when he heard her name but slowly lowered again. He swiped away the grass below him with a paw and turned his head away from the Charizard. "Well what does this all have to do with me? It's not like she matters anymore to me...or that I matter to her. I'm probably just a memory now, how she is to me." He paused to think. "Agni, you don't understand, I loved her, and now she hates me. Better yet," he said with a hint of sarcasm. "She'll never know how I felt for her."

The next thing he knew there was a stinging across his left cheek, the same one with the three claw marks (making him quite vicious looking, might I add). Agni looked furious and to put it simply, scary. His brow furrowed and now he was the one wearing a frown.

"What are you saying? That because Higeki will never love you or remember you as more than a memory, you're going to let her die?! You know, Zaakir, to me, it doesn't seem much like you really love her." Agni turned around, just about ready to fly away.

He stuttered. "W-wait...well, what _does _this have to do with me anyways?"

The orange dragon still did not turn around. "Well, that's why I'm here, to tell you that you're the only one who can save Higeki, and maybe even the world. Even though they've already started the warming process above Phoenix Town, it's not too late for you to stop them."

Zaakir backed up. "But wait, why am _I_ the only one?"

"Stop asking questions boy!" Agni spread his wings. "Just get to the Team Rocket head quarters; you're the only one small enough to sneak in unnoticed and the only one that they'll let into the building because they know you're missing. If you can get in without Amber putting you back in your Pokeball, you can get to the machine, hidden deep down in the depths of the building, and destroy it for good!"

Agni turned his head and gave Zaakir one last look, and with a twinkling smile in his cerulean blue eyes, began to rise into the sky.

He watched the large dragon fly off into the sky, soon becoming a small speck in the sky.

And indeed he was true, something truly frightening was beginning. The bright summer green leaves were now changing their colors. Agni and Zaakir had been standing on the edge of a large plain, where a herd of Tauros were grazing in the distance, watching them warily. A few trees, which were the start of a large forest, loomed just over Zaakir's head, a slight breeze ruffling their leaves. Stunning whirlwinds of dull red and golden yellow leaves were torn from their branches and sadly drifted down to the turning grass, leaving their mother trees bare. Brown, crackled, dead leaves carpeted the forest floor. The apples on the trees were turning brown and wilting...? It was only just turning autumn...

But the winds, they were warm.

Zaakir sighed and squeezed the spot right between his eyes with his paw in frustration.

Off to find Amber he was.

---

I could feel her eyes on me. They were blue, shining, and pretty damn penetrating. It's like she was reading my thoughts or something. Whenever I would turn my head, I would find her looking at me. She would look away quickly, as if I was just a passing object, as if she was gazing over the scene as a whole, and not just me. But I wasn't dumb enough not to see that she was thinking deep, long and hard about something I didn't know If I would like or not. It kind of scared me.

Two weeks. Two long, and when I say long, I mean long, weeks, Jill stared at me. More like through me. I got used to it I guess, until one day I'll never forget. Not in my entire life.

Ren and I had been spending great lengths of time together. He seemed to want to get closer to me, while I was hesitant. It's hard to move on when you still haven't confessed your undying love for another. It bothered me in the back of my head, and my stupid conscience was convinced that I couldn't move on until I had told Zaakir how I felt about him. Only then I could be comfortable with settling down with Ren. I mean, he was practically everything I thought Zaakir was, and he seemed to understand me most of the time, and on a much deeper level I thought anyone capable of. I can't believe I almost kicked my conscience in the butt and fell for Ren right away.

Speaking of the lovable Vaporeon, we just happened to be sunning ourselves out on the balcony of Jill's hotel room quietly chatting when Jillian herself came out.

Jill walked out onto the balcony and when I looked up I stopped laughing. Scrambling to our feet, Ren and I struggled to stand up in time.

"Hello there you two." Jill said, but she wasn't looking at either of us, she was looking out over us and over the landscape beyond the hotel.

She turned to me. "Ama, could I speak to you alone for a moment?"

Ren slinked out of the room quietly, giving me one last look before heading out. Jill turned and closed the balcony doors, and knelt down beside me.

"I've been thinking." she said simply. I nodded.

"You seem...kind of out of place here." She paused. "I think, that you've had a home before, haven't you?" I looked into her cerulean eyes and she looked into mine.

"Jill, you're beginning to scare me..." I barked.

"So, like I said, I've been thinking...and, if you've just got that one place and that one special person you've got to get back to, you probably don't want to be here, do ya?" I ran an orange paw over her cheek and caught a few of the tears falling from her now glassy eyes.

I let out a small woof. "You have no idea."

"So..." she managed to choke in between sobs. She lifted out my Pokeball from her belt and held it out in her hand. "You can...go...I mean, If it would make you happy, it would make me...happy...you know, to know..." She was blowing out full thrown sobs by now. "That you were...happy..."

She stood abruptly and wiped the rainfall from her red eyes and face. I shook my head slowly, right then I didn't quite understand what she was doing.

The next thing I never expected. She yelled at me.

"Go, go on, and get out of here! We don't want you anymore!"

By now we were both crying. I backed up away from her, and burst through the balcony doors and down the stairs.

I tripped down most of them.

Ren called out to me as I passed him on the last set of stairs.

My eyes grew wide as I remembered Zaakir calling out to me that day that seemed and felt so far away. I shook my head from side to side and tried to shake off so many feelings of sadness all at once.

I ran through the hotel doors.

I headed for the forest.

I ran for hours.

I cried.

_Shit._

---

I swear there was a puddle of my fallen tears beneath my head when I finally gathered up the strength to stand again. There were large, ancient looking trees that looked like they could be one hundred feet high, maybe even more, surrounding me all around. A thick moss slowly contaminated the branches of the massive giants and vines woven together like thick mesh hung down, creating a cob web like effect. There were little reddish orange growing in the short bushels of grass on the forest floor, accompanied by a slowly growing coat of dried, brown, leaves.

I turned my head all around, looking for some sign of where I had come from. To my right, there was a large hole ripped through some vines and many snapped twigs. Yeah, I had come from the right. But to my left, there was unexplored forest...did I dare got to on the path least traveled, or back to a home that no longer wanted me? My mind was in a thick haze. Damn, I wish I could remember to lock that thing up in a cage once in awhile. Jillian had said that what made me happy would make her happy, and then...she shooed me right out of there like I wasn't welcome. Having someone else I loved call out my name in pain again wasn't exactly something I liked right then.

I thought about many things during my time in the forest. I thought about Ailis, and Jillian, and Ren. And my teams. I thought about how I wished Amber would have never been born in the first place, so that all this would have never happened in the first place. And how her mother probably was wishing the same thing. I thought about Zaakir and how much I longed to see him just one more time to tell him I loved him, even if it meant he wasn't listening. Frankly, I didn't think he would, after I had deliberately swam off into the ocean where he couldn't follow me.

I did swear revenge, didn't I? I swore, with all my heart, and all my salt, that I would get revenge on Amber for ruining my life. Now I was no longer a Trainers Pokemon, so I could go about this easier than toting along with Jillian...

I decided that they could wait for me to come back after my jaws were stained with Amber's blood.

I took to the left.

Well, I started to, anyways. The second before I set a paw out of that little clearing, my mind raced like a Rapidash. It seems I _do _work well under pressure. Most of the time. Okay, some of the time. Alright! Not even two percent of the time! Leave me alone!

As I was saying, I thought long, and hard. _Would _it be easier to get to Amber alone? Probably not. And Jill said that what made me happy would make her happy, right? So, I should just go back, which would make me happy, which would make her happy. I was taking some test of some sort. Oh, A+, be with me and don't let Jill have thrown out my Pokeball...

So I turned back to the right and made the long perilous journey of a thousand miles back to our hotel.

---

Ren was confused at Jillian. He had seen Ama, running from the building clumsily, and he had heard Jill yelling, but what could have gone on, he wondered? Because when he found Jill in her room, she was lying on the bed, practically drowned in tears. So they were both crying...Gah, our Vaporeon was utterly and completely confused.

'_Women.' _He thought.

---

My 'long journey' home, as I called it, was not actually that long. I reached the edge of the thicket in what felt like no time at all, really. I had come out covered in little scratches from the thorned plants all throughout the forest, and emerged near the back yard of the hotel, from which I had came. With a toothy grin I slipped back into the place quietly, and stealthily, like a sneaky ninja. I tripped up the stairs I was so exited and nudged Jill's door open with my snout. She was sitting on her bed, stroking Ren's head. They looked up when the door cracked open.

I closed my eyes and lifted my head up high and jumped up onto the bed. Even though she wouldn't understand me, I spoke to her.

"Jill," I said. "You said what ever would make me happy, would make you happy. So, I decided, that staying here, would make me happy."

I don't know if she understood me, or maybe she just got the gist of what I was trying to say, but her arms crossed around me and Ren smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen on anything living.

He nuzzled my face. "You're back." Was all he said. I smiled too.

---

I have an excuse for the lateness! Friday I went to a friends, we went to Olive Garden (yummm :D) she slept over my house, Saturday friend number 1 went home and Torayuri came over, Sunday me and Torayuri went to gamestop and we each bought GUN (ohh, such a fun, fun game.) Monday she went home, I went to my gramma's house, Tuesday horseback riding (again) and Wednesday, today, I was sick, and it was also my birthday. Wow, I've been quite busy. Well, hope you enjoyed that very filler-like chapter! Next chapter hopefully more action and a little bit of that violence I've been wanting to type XD

Thanks to **Awesome Rapidash**, **Sirnight777**, and **Cune** for reviewing and helping me to reach 10 whole reviews! And 10 is my lucky number! Considering my birthday is 10/10 :D


	6. Intuition

Thanks everyone for the reviews! Alrighty! This chapter, we meet another couple of antagonists/protagonists. I wrote some of that action stuff I really needed to get out of my system too. And this was a LOT harder than General Newt, torayuri. But I had fun. I tried to give you guys more of Zaakir this chapter as the previous encounters with him have mostly been short, except for his meeting with Agni. Well I hope you enjoy! Oh, and P.S., I typed this on my new laptop:D And I've looked at other stories with like 12 chapters and they're still not as long as this, which has only 6 chapters now, so I think I'm doing okay with the length. Tell me what you think.

---

**Incandescence – Chapter 5**

Ew, I was sweaty. Really, really sweaty. It was pretty uncomfortable considering my situation. The arena was all wrong, full of grass and rocks, no water in sight. Not the best place for a Water Pokemon to battle if you ask me. But, Jill had really wanted to battle this kid here, (who was currently losing by a long shot...No, wait, make that a really really long shot in the dark )There was nothing strikingly special about this boy, really. He was pretty much a midget (no offence to you midget Humans out there), with a lousy stance and slouching posture. There was brown hair atop his head (Seriously, how can you live with only hair on the top of your head? I will never understand you Humans.) And, the first time I saw him, I almost burst out loud _laughing _because of the odd shape of his nose. It was like a Staravia's beak, only funnier. A lot funnier.

I was currently "in the funk". I had won the last, let's see, 10 battles, and my level was raising fast. Soon I would be the most invincible Buizel in the history of the world. Maybe. I could feel myself getting stronger, and faster, and I was able to last longer in battle than ever before. Stamina, I think you call it.

We watched our opponent look at his last Pokeball, and at last he clicked the button and threw it, releasing a large, strong looking Staravia. _Well what a coincidence, the perfect pokemon to go with his nose. _He looked quite uneasy.

"Hey!" the Staravia chirped, causing me to turn my head. "You're battling _me,_ not my trainer!"

A yawn escaped from my muzzle, allowing me to casually show my fangs before returning the remark. "I doubt this'll take long; I could probably beat you without looking at your ugly beak."

My foe seemed to take this pretty personally, as he rubbed his beak with his wing and ruffled his feathers before the battle was out of our trainers' hands and into our own.

He wasted no time; he lifted himself off of the ground quickly and dove towards me, only as I stood there dumbly waiting for him to hit me, he changed his course by an inch or two and made to strike me in the stomach with the edge of his wing. Not a very smart move, a Wing Attack. I ducked under his wing, feeling the whoosh of the air that he moved and seeing that he was already gone by. I turned and dammit he was already head back for another one.

_His eyes, _I told myself. _Get him in the eyes and you're perfect! _I could hear Jill faintly shouting something in the background, but paid her no attention. I opened my mouth and felt the center of my power move up to the roof of my mouth and a ball of water swirling around, until it gathered enough energy and I released the Water Gun right towards the Staravia's feathery face. He swerved when the water collided with his vision and crashed into the ground a few meters away, eventually skidding to a halt, resulting in him hitting a large rock with his head.

"The score's one to nothin, care to do something about it?" I shot towards the bird Pokemon, who was now just getting to his feet and rubbing his head with his wing. Only then I noticed something, this wasn't a regular Staravia. Instead of ordinary gray plumage, he had brownish feathers. So he was a Shiny. Not that I don't like Shinies or anything. They either tend to think they're royalty or everyone hates them for being different though. Not the type of life I'd want to live, I'll tell you that much.

"Yeah, you're going to pay for that one." He smiled an evil smile and lifted himself back into the air. Next thing I know he's real high up in the sky. Shit, I knew what was coming. It was Aerial Ace. I couldn't avoid that even if I was the fastest Pokemon in the whole Sinnoh region.

It came inevitable. Un-dodge able. He flew so fast I couldn't even see his silhouette. Although he did slow down at the moment of impact. Or that might have just been me, as it looked as thought it was in slow motion.

His beak felt like a knife stabbing into and through my whole body, when really it was just a very hard peck-like attack. When he was back onto his side of the arena though, and I happened to look down to where he hit me, there was a large hole in my chest about the size of his beak, and it was bleeding profusely. Muttering a few curse words more to myself than to my opponent, I threw my head up and tore him a glare that I was ready to kill with.

"_Now _ you're going pay." I said as dangerously as I possibly could without shaking my chest too much, as it was starting to hurt to breathe. The fur where he had struck was thick with wet blood.

The Shiny looked back at me smugly and smirked. "Looks like your arrogance got you more pain than pride," he replied wittily. I sneered.

I looked at the field between us. Dammit, Jillian was still yelling at me.It was pretty annoying. She did this every battle. What I didn't understand though, was _why._

As soon as I could concentrate enough on him and his weaknesses instead of the fierce burning sensation in my chest and in my ribs, I conjured up a plan. He could fly, check. So all I had to do was figure out some way to avoid getting killed and take out his wings and the battle would be mine. Victory!

I looked deep inside myself for the moves Jillian and I had worked on me learning. I remembered my move set was Water Gun, Quick Attack, Swift and Aqua Jet. I was thinking Quick Attack the wings, then get to the head and neck. Yes, that would do nicely. But oh, if it was only that easy.

He had lifted himself back into the air, the jerk. He knew I couldn't get to him in the air. But hey, I don't blame him for strategic thinking. I watched him flap his brown wings, waiting for something, anything, to come to me. I was hoping he'd do another head on attack to give me a chance to counter attack, and guess what? I was in luck.

He dove for another Aerial Ace. Luckily this time though, I had a plan, and I knew his strategy. Right when he was about to attack, I shifted only about an inch more to the side and launched a Quick Attack right into his right wing. He winced in pain as the feathers above his nose wrinkled and I laughed. He stumbled backwards and held his wing limply. I thought he'd still have some fight left in him, but he fell suddenly over onto his side, wailed in pain as he held his wing in his other wing and was called back into his Pokeball by his trainer. "It's not over…" he whispered as the red light engulfed his beaten body. I let out a sigh of pure relief and fell backwards onto my back.

---

When I awoke again I was in a Pokémon center, I could tell by the white walls and the hard, crinkly bed beneath my fur. I blinked my eyes once or twice to adjust to the bright white light above me and the strange box surrounding me. I realized there was a strange contraption over my muzzle, and as I moved my neck a little, I could make out the healing hole where the Staravia had struck me. I hoped there wasn't a scar there after it had healed.

There was a click and the door opened to first _another_ Nurse Joy and Jillian right behind her. I started to smile when I saw her, but she wasn't smiling at me. The opposite of that, she looked pretty angry.

She politely asked Nurse Joy to leave and waited for her to close the door behind her before turning back to me and walking up to the glass. I looked up at her attempting to smile, but backed off when her mood hadn't changed.

"Ama, I'm very disappointed in you. I thought I had earned your trust, I thought you would listen to me."

I shifted my head to the side in confusion. She just sighed and bent down so that she was eye level with me. "Didn't you hear me calling you? You made me look bad in front of Derek!" I thought about it. I had heard her calling me, but hadn't bothered to listen to what she was saying. Oh well.

In shifted my head away from her and closed my eyes again. That battle, and all the previous ones, might've worked better if I had Jill helping me along with my decisions. I barked and tried to tell her I was sorry, and I guess she understood from my eyes, as that was how she learned to tell my emotions. Or, emotion, as mostly the only thing I did with my eyes was roll them.

I was released from the center about a day later, only when Nurse Joy let me out of the bow and off the oxygen, and walked me out of the room and down the hallway, I saw an unfamiliar sight. There was Jill, and Ren on the floor who looked as happy to see me as I was to see him, but next to Jill was the trainer that we had battled the previous day, and they were holding paws- I mean hands. My Staravia "friend" was standing next to his trainer, who I presumed as Derek.

Ren smiled and called out to me, which made the brown bird turn his head to look at me too.

"So that's your name, Ama." He said, but he wasn't smiling.

"Yeah, birdbrains. Thanks for introducing yourself." I shoved past him and nuzzled Ren's cheek in greeting.

He still gave me the glare. "The name's Etoile." He said gruffly.

---

Zaakir was walking through a large forest, looking for a place where he could get directions to Team Rockets Nye hideout, or more indirectly, Maru City. He was surrounded by trees, standing tall and watching over him as he walked over their fallen leaves and dew covered pine needles. He could smell the city and the peoples' scents a mile away, so he knew he must be close. But it was still a long way to walk, and he had been walking for hours since he had seen Agni.

There was a rustling in a couple of bushes not to far from where the Houndour was standing. He turned his head but the rustling stopped, so he continued to walk, although a little lighter on his paws. He didn't want to disturb anything or caused any ruckus. But a few paw steps later, there was a rustling again. This time he started running, because he didn't want anything to follow him. The trees were whizzing by when he was struck and knocked to the ground, pinned by something he couldn't see because he had closed his eyes in pain when his head hit the forest floor.

"My luck just keeps getting worse," he said with his eyes still closed, waiting to be torn into little pieces by something vicious like a Meganium or a Sceptile or a Leafeon, something that was fast and nimble enough to tackle him about 5 meters away from the spot he was standing in. "When will I get a break?!"

"Jeeze, you don't have to yell, I'm right here."

Zaakir opened one of his eyes to catch a glimpse of his attacker. Instead though, he only got a vision of a red pool in a background of sky blue blinking and looking back at him. Until he opened his eyes, when he noticed it was a Poochyena that had tackled him.

"Who're you?" he asked quickly and suspiciously.

She was still pinning him to the ground. "My name's Kyuua, who're YOU?"

Zaakir was too lost in his thoughts of happiness that he wasn't going to be eaten to hear her. She asked again, but yet again he didn't reply.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU?!" Kyuua shouted.

"Could you get off of me?"

"NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHO YOU ARE! And what're you doing in my part of the woods anyways?"

"Oh, um, I'm Zaakir. And I never knew you _owned _part of the forest, sor_ry_. Now could ya get off of me?"

She reluctantly lifted her hind paws off of his first, and then her front paws until he was back up on his own paws, rubbing them like they were sore. He looked up from his paws to the Poochyena. She had strange, mesmerizing eyes, different from any other Poochyena's eyes he had ever seen. He fur, instead of the usual gray shades, was an assortment of browns. She was a Shiny.

He tried to smile at her but it came out as more of a scowl. She looked at him like he was a Bagon trying to fly, like he was crazy or something. There was a pregnant silence before Kyuua spoke up again.

"So, what are you doing here anyways?" she inquired.

He though for a minute before remembering that he was on his was to Maru City. "I'm headed to Maru City; on account of…I've got something to take care of."

She seemed satisfied enough. "You seem kind of lost. Want me to take you there?" She looked like she had other intentions besides just being friendly, but Zaakir agreed, as he knew he would have trouble finding his way on his own and that she lived around there so she probably knew the area better. He let her lead him.

---

This Derek creature came with many surprises, as I learned along his stay with us. He wouldn't even give me a second glance, and he let out these foul curse words all the time, even in front of Jill, which made me sick. Jill didn't deserve that. I guess his temper matched his face, because they were both ugly. I had bad feelings about him though, and so did the rest of the team. But we physically had no way of telling Jill, because I'm sure you remember we don't speak human.

Derek and Jillian were…"going out", I guess. Seriously, you humans are such strange creatures. But I guess not that different, on account of I have a lot of other brothers and sisters not from the same Dad. But you, on the other hand, once you mate, or get married, having pups with some one else is like murdering your spouses Skitty; It's bad. I mean, who would murder a Skitty? Well actually, they are kind of dim and annoying…Never mind. It's like murdering someone's Buizel. I mean, who would murder a Buizel?

Anyways, I guess the first time I got bad feelings about Derek was the first time I looked into his eyes. They were brown, and practically radiated bad feelings. His nose, as I've mentioned before, was big, kind of reminded me of the witch in the fairy tales Ailis used to read to me, except he was lacking the mole. His gender though was a little more difficult to judge.

Only once I saw them nuzzling, through the crack of our new hotel bedroom's door. But it was nothing big. Just a quick peck on the cheek, which was all I ever saw of nuzzling from them.

But still the bad feelings continued to come back over and over again.

I was walking down the wooden floor of the hallway, heading back to Jill's room from a dip in the pool with Ren, who was still down there soaking up the sun. I turned a corner and almost ran into Derek, who was coming in the opposite direction.

"Watch where you're going," he spat as I shuffled to the side. I watched him until he reached the phone booth in the hallway and he began to dial a number. I fled when he gave me a dirty look. But I walked slowly, and when the faint ringing had stopped, he asked into the receiver, "Hello, it's Derek. Is Amber there?"

---

Ooooh! You decide who are the protagonists and who are the antagonists! Tell me (along with your thoughts on the length of the chapters) who you think is good and who you think is bad in your review, pretty please? ;D


	7. Deathly Costs

Wow guys, thank you so much everybody! You don't know how happy opening my mail to reviews makes me. It just brightens up my day. Well, please enjoy this chapter! And folks, we're getting pretty close to the end!

---

**Incandescence – Chapter 6**

Reluctantly I followed Jillian to the front desk of the hotel, because she had been called down for something that the front desk lady had called a "parcel". Who the heck in the world calls the mail a "parcel"?! I've never met another since.

I climbed up onto her lap when we were back in her room, as she began to open the package labeled with her name on it, the return address being from Pewter City. I wondered what it could have been, until Jill pulled out a pack of six collar-like things that buckled. I looked at her incredulously. She didn't think I was actually going to wear that thing, did she?!

I watched her cut open the plastic packaging and pull out one of the collars. The next thing I know she's trying to strangle me as she buckled the collar around my neck and I scratched her hands with my claws.

"Get-it-off!" I shouted. "And why the heck are you smiling?!"

She just kept on smiling and scratched my head. I knew they couldn't understand us but I really didn't think humans were that stupid as to not see the discomfort I was experiencing.

"I'm smiling because I can understand you now!" Okay, that one was a coincidence. She couldn't _really_ understand me…

"Oh, so now humans can magically speak Buizel, how ironic." I retorted as I struggled to lift the thing over my head but it was too tight

"No, now you can speak English! I can understand you!" Jill giggled happily.

I was speechless, I really was. I turned my head slowly, to look at her, wide eyed. She was just sitting there looking at me with the utmost interest. "Alright," I finally managed to spit out. "If you can understand me, repeat after me. Lemons are tasty."

"Lemons are tasty?" she said unsurely.

I could only try to lift my jaw back up to its normal position from where it was sitting on the bedroom floor. She repeated it back to me. Unbelievable. This device or collar or whatever was out of this world for sure. Why hadn't I heard of this thing before?

Suddenly a thought hit me like Etoile's Aerial Ace. Now I could tell Jill about everything and anything I had ever needed to say. Like, 'my food's too spicy,' or 'I don't like my Pokeball' or…or 'I need to get revenge on someone and I was wondering if you could help me', even if that sounded a little crazy.

"Jill," I started uncertainly. She replied with an 'mmhmm', signaling me to continue. "I needed to tell you about something."

---

Well, yeah. I don't really feel like saying my whole life story again, so…

---

After I had finished my life's tale, Jillian was crying and holding me in her arms. It felt good to talk about it and It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when she had started crying, like she really cared and could understand me. But I didn't enjoy her tears all over me though.

"And so, I think Derek's cheating on you, because I heard him call Amber yesterday. But the thing is," I paused. "Is that if you confront him, and tell him you want to be a part of team rocket, then we can get into there, and I can take care of Amber once and for all."

She looked at me uncertainly. It didn't seem like she was crazy with committing murder, but I guess she realized that this was something I needed to do (which it was) and that the consequences were just going to have to face _us_. I thanked her after she had finally agreed, but told her to keep it between me and her only.

After she had put the collars on the rest of the team, we all talked and chatted and such, Jill and I though waiting for Derek to return from "training".

Finally he walked in the door, with Etoile at his side. We both gave each other a sneer in greeting, and I looked at Derek. Boy, you could tell he really trained, you could smell him a mile away. He walked up to Jillian, and in a moment of suspense so intense (hey, that rhymes! I'm a poet and I didn't ever know it ;D …No, literally, I didn't.) So VERY intense that I could tell everyone's heads were about to burst and that one guy who's always in the audience was shouting "get to the good part already!" Then, as quickly as it had come, Jill's mouth opened and the intense suspense floated away like a Drifloon on the wind.

"I didn't know you were in leagues with Team Rocket." Jill said suddenly, and she wasn't smiling.

Derek stuttered. "I uh, well…never told you 'cause I didn't think you'd like it…"

Jill smiled this fake smile all of a sudden that only a stupid person like Derek couldn't see. "It's alright, I was just happy that you are because I really wanted to get into Team Rocket and I wasn't sure how." Jill glanced as me a minute and I threw her a wink real quick like. I was getting excited because revenge tasted so sweet then.

Derek seemed to try and cover up his sudden shock visible in his wide eyes by smiling ingenuinly. "Oh, well, uh, I guess I could get you in…" he faltered.

Yes, we were on our way.

---

Kyuua looked uncertainly at the sleeping Houndour a little ways away in the dank cave they had chosen to rest in. His face and eyes brought back memories so dear to her she almost wanted to turn away from him to wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes, but she couldn't. His sleeping face was too peaceful. She wagged her tail as she remembered him, and longed for him to wake up so she could finally ask him if he remembered her. He sure was a heavy sleeper.

Finally, she jumped a little when he turned over and blinked a few times at her. "Hey, morning." He said plainly as he lifted himself up onto his paws.

Kyuua smiled. "Yeah, morning." She also lifted herself up off of the cold rock floor of the cave, the first few rays of sunshine twinkling in through the open mouth dangling on her brown fur making it shine and glisten. She batted her eyelashes prettily but Zaakir wasn't paying any attention to her so she just followed him out of the cave. "_Man, guys are just so dense. Here I stayed up all night cleaning my fur and all he says to me is 'Hey, morning.' That's only two words for crying out loud!" _

"Listen, Oboeru," she trotted in front of him and faced him to talk.

He stopped and looked at her. "Hey, how'd you know my name? I thought I told you it was Zaakir yesterday…" Zaakir asked, a little scared at heart. But actually, he wondered about that. He was no longer Amber's Pokémon as far as he saw, so he could go back to Oboeru.

"That's just it," the Poochyena began. "Don't you remember me? From when we lived back in Fundan forest? You do remember, don't you?"

Oboeru paused until that same look of realization washed over him. "Ky-Kyuua? You mean, Kyuua from Fundan forest??" he repeated wide-eyed.

She rolled her eyes. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Oh-wow! I totally forgot! It's nice to see you again." He said and nuzzled his old friend.

"Yeah, about that. Your mom wants to see you. She needs to talk to you real bad or something like that, so she sent me to fetch you. I didn't tell you right away because I thought we'd be to Maru City by now and done with your errand, but your mom wants you back there soon. It's actually in the direction we're headed, so we can just go around Maru City, to Fundan forest and then backtrack." She added, "It shouldn't take long." after he started looking upset.

"Alright," he said, agreeing unenthusiastically.

---

Jill stood in the mirror, looking over the new uniform Derek had gotten delivered. It was a teal belly shirt, with a black R on it, and a mini skirt. She straightened it out uncomfortably as I appeared next to her in the mirror, also uncomfortably. I frowned.

"Jill, are you sure about this?"

She frowned. "Well we can't exactly turn back now can we?"

That made me feel bad. She seemed to notice.

"…but, you need to do this, so let's do it. I'm behind you one hundred percent of the way." She smiled and nudged me with her foot.

I smiled the biggest smile I've ever smiled in my life, as we walked out of the door and she called me back into my pokeball.

---

Maru City was strictly a round place, as if it was built inside a large circle or territory, so it wasn't that hard to get around it to Fundan forest. Actually, it only took them about a half an hour and soon they were standing before a large, ominous and dark looking entrance to the forest. They shared uneasy glances before starting into the dangers the forest held, as both of them knew.

Kyuua led the way, as Oboeru hadn't been there in so long, he alone probably would have gotten lost after five steps into the grounds of the dog Pokémon pack. He looked around uncertainly and he began to space out as he unconsciously followed Kyuua. He started to wonder about what his mother could have wanted him for. In fact, the only thing he remembered about his mother was that she was incredibly pushy and bossier than any of the other mothers in the pack, and she wasn't too fond of him.

After about a miles walk, he began to smell the familiar scents of the Growlithe, Arcanine, Poochyena, Mightyena, Electrike, Manectric, Houndour and Houndoom of which he had grown up with. They became stronger and stronger and soon it was up his nostrils almost literally.

They came upon a large clearing, where many canines who were fighting over meat, battling, resting, ect., turned their heads a couple by a couple, until the whole pack was watching them cross the clearing to the High Rock, or the cliff that the Alpha's gave speeches and announcements on, and where the Alpha's cave was located. Kyuua and Oboeru trotted up to a lanky looking female Houndoom, whose ribs were way past visible, resting up on top of the High Rock.

She lifted her head when she heard paw steps and the scent of the Poochyena and her son filled her nose. She smiled and her ears flew up as her legs scrambled beneath her to lift her old body up onto her paws. "Kyuua! You brought back…" she trailed off when she saw her unevolved son staring back at her with no emotion what-so ever. "A Houndour." She finished. "Thank you Kyuua, but could you give us some alone time?"

"Yes, M**e**re ma'am**." **

"Well?" she frowned. "Aren't you going to greet your mother like a proper gentleman?"

He cleared his throat. "Good day, ma'am."

She circled him, as the ledge was actually quite wide. "I see you haven't accomplished your goal. I thought I banished you from this pack until you evolved because everyone your age had already Evolved the year before."

"That wasn't my goal, mother. That was your goal."

She turned and shoved her face into his. "Why haven't you completed it?! I don't give a damn whose goal it was, I want you to Evolve!" she growled fiercely. Oboeru stood his ground, keeping his head high and his legs straight.

"I suppose you were caught right after you left the forest," M**e**re sighed and plopped down onto the rock again. "Caught like the little weakling you are. All of your brothers and sisters have already Evolved and mated with healthy Houndoom's."

Oboeru didn't move. "I don't want to mate with any of these Houndoom's. Practically everyone in this pack had become a starved savage since Dabe died and left _you _in charge."

She flung herself up again and began whispering dangerously at Oboeru. "Don't you _ever_ speak of me like that!" She screamed the 'ever' and once finished with her sentence unsheathed her claws and struck at his face, knowing him backwards, and slamming his head into the cliff wall, which he winced at and let out a whine of pain.

"You have turned out to be the worst son." She said bitterly. "I wish I had killed you at birth when I had the chance, but no, your father wouldn't let me!"

Oboeru winced and tried to regain his position, but his head was spinning. Mere leaned her muzzle real close to his ear, and whispered maliciously, "That's why I _killed him._" She gave a laugh, a quick, in-your-face, evil laugh.

His head was swimming, first with comprehension, then with anger. Deep, deep anger held up deep inside him. All of a sudden, at that moment, all of the anger he had ever felt was brought to his realization, and it boiled up into pools of fury in his eyes.

Mere made to tackle him off of the High Rock, but Oboeru slashed her in the face with claws unsheathed, scraping out one of her eyes and most of the fur around it. She called out in ragged gasps between her ear splitting cries, and cursed many words at him at the top of her lungs. There was fresh blood spilling all over her face and dripping down onto the rocky surface. Once her screams had stopped, she turned to him looking fiercer than ever and rose up onto her hind legs, making to lash out with her front paws and unsheathed claws. Oboeru did the same, although since he wasn't Evolved or as old as she was, she towered above him quite a bit.

"You little bas-" but before she could finish he raked his claws along her soft underbelly, causing more pools of blood to begin to collect underneath her. He expected her to collapse, but she was a lot stronger than he thought anyone at her age could be.

Kyuua heard yelling and screaming coming from the clearing area, so she headed out of her cave and through a short patch of woods before coming upon the scene up on High Rock.

Oboeru gasped as his mothers fangs sank into his foreleg. With her powerful jaws she slowly placed her feet sturdily underneath her and attempted to throw him off of the cliff, but instead of falling off, he managed to hold on to the edge just barely with his claws, and in a moment, Mere felt herself unclamp her jaws from her sons leg. She raked her claws along her back attempting to hold on to her wretched life, and finally she managed to get a hold with her claws wedged deep into his flesh.

She howled shrilly at him. "Don't let go! Lift me back up onto the ledge! Hurry, you worthless thing! Maybe if you save me I won't kill you afterwards!"

He turned his head and looked down at the endless drop to the bottom of the cliff, covered in sharp rocks. Turning his head back from the frightening plummet, Oboeru cringed and slowly lifted one paw after another farther up onto the ledge, only because he knew she'd drag him down with her if he didn't. He swung his mother as hard as he could and managed to hurl her up onto the cliff, taking large chucks of his fleshy tissue with her, before he launched himself up after her. As soon as he shook his head and stood up though, he saw his mother's evil grin staring back at him. "Now it's time for you to die!"

Kyuua watched cold in fear as Mere catapulted herself towards her son with her powerful legs and with her arms stretched out in front of her, ready to literally push him off of the cliff. But at the last second, Oboeru swiftly ducked and dodged her, sending Mere off of the cliff and into the sharp rocks below.

There was a deathly scream and a crack that howled along with the wind. Kyuua looked up at Oboeru, who was wearing a stern frown as he looked down upon his birth mother laying still on her side some one hundred and fifty feet down and the wind blowing his fur. There was really nothing on his face, you could infer no emotion from his cold and lifeless, scarred face. There was a moment between the Houndour and Poochyena, and neither was sure what kind of moment either, but it was there before the both made their way to her body, Kyuua rapidly and Oboeru taking his time.

It was obvious by her eyes and the large pool of blood she was bathed in that she was long dead. All life in her eyes had fled; now they were only staring but never seeing. Her front leg was twisted into an odd position, presumably broken. There was a large, gaping, gash where her head had hit a rock a little ways away, this evident because of the blood on the rock. Her spirit had left and could never return.

No tears welled in the eyes of the pack members; they only looked on with what one would call awe. No one spoke a word, a silence forming over the dog Pokémon. Soon some of the savages, as they were starving, began to pick at her.

Oboeru asked Kyuua quickly if they could get out of there and get to his errand in Maru City. She agreed with a silent nod.

---

Oh wow, that was a hell of a lot of Zaakir (I'll call him Oboeru from now on, sorry if that's kind of confusing) and a hell of a lot darker. Well to me anyways. Man, I didn't think that would be that dark. Wow. Anyways, I wonder if I did okay with the fighting scene, as I don't believe myself very good at those kinds of things. Oboeru's minor plot thingy might have moved a little fast, so sorry about that, but it was only a small one so I didn't want to stretch it out over a bunch of chapters. Meanwhile, I got this one up pretty fast I think because I got it done in like 2/3 days, because I spent so long typing 6 pages in one night. Oh, and I'm thinking of starting a fic about a Shiny Pokémon, preferably about an Eevee evolution. Don't worry, if I start it while I'm still writing Incandescence, I'll try and do both at the same time, but this one is my main goal. I'm still deciding if maybe I'll do it in between this one and the sequel I've been planning, or maybe intertwine it with the sequel. Hey, I need you guy's opinions on something again. What Eevee evolution would YOU rather read about? Let me know in your review, if you do. Wow! Well, this Authors note is long enough. Until next time!

---


	8. Loss and Gain

Here it is folks: the last chapter before the Epilogue. Hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed typing this chapter. I've also started another fic called "A Flame in the Fresh Snow", but it's not up yet. Please look for it soon.

---

**Incandescence –Chapter 7**

Okay. I've never told anyone this before, but I have a very deep, dark secret. Now, you've all got to promise you'll never tell anyone, got it? Alright. I'll admit it. I'm afraid of heights.

Okay, it might sound a little silly to you, and some of you might agree with me. I don't care. As long as you never spill a word of it to anyone, we're okay.

Anyways, the reason I had to share my secret is because that's where we were; very, very high up. Me and my big mouth. Since I had absolutely refused to ride another ferry, that plan was off.They would not get me on that boat. Especially with Ren around. So instead of riding over the ocean, we were up in something Jill and Derek called a helicopter.

Boy, was it loud. It sounded like a thousand Tyranitar, Donphan and whatever other loud Pokémon you can think of all rolled into one gigantic flying thing. I swear my head almost blew up. It was as loud inside as it was outside. I even offered to go into my pokeball for the ride, but Jillian probably couldn't hear me over the racket.

I sat shaking in her lap, watching the blue ocean go by underneath us through the windows. I couldn't keep myself from chattering, but I only told everyone I was cold when they teased me about being scared.

It didn't last long, though. Soon we were back down onto the ground, onto the roof of some large building in some city called Maru City. I could keep still, I tell you, I was so nervous and excited about seeing Amber again and bringing her pitiful little life to a nice slow and painful death. I could tell Jillian was nervous too, but she sure did a better job at hiding it. You should have seen the way she kept a stern face in front of the other Team Rocket members. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Jillian released Ren, who I had chosen to tell about our little plan, and he walked beside me down the stairs from the roof. With him next to me, I miraculously stopped shaking.

---

Oboeru and Kyuua sat panting in the shade of an Alley in Maru City. They had finally made it, but had met some trouble along the way. Who knew they'd have a stray catcher in Maru City, and even a pound, anyways? They had been chased over half of the city by that guy, but finally had ducked into the alley they were currently sitting in, breathing hard. The catcher had passed the alleyway just a little while after them, and didn't bother to check it. So for now, they were in the clear.

With her pink tongue hanging limply from her mouth, she frowned at her Houndour friend. "What the heck kind of errand do you have in this city anyways? We were almost caught by that guy you know, and then we'd be dead for sure!"

He sighed. "I know, I know, I've never been here either, I didn't know that guy was going to be chasing us!"

"Whaaaat?!" she gaped. "You've never been here before?! Then why are you here?!"

"Because," he said with his tongue also hanging from his muzzle, "A friend of mine told me that this was something only I could do."

She looked scared then. Oboeru nuzzled her cheek before standing up again and checking to make sure that the street was clear. He turned back to her. "I'm sorry I got you into this." He said solemnly.

"Let's just get this over with, alright?"

They headed out of their hiding spot, keeping lower to the ground this time and sticking to the shadows for protection against the strange eyes of the crowds. They crossed many streets, sheltered by many shadows, by the darkness. And then it hit him, how was he supposed to find this building?

As he pondered this, and Kyuua watched him confused, He looked up, and they just so happened to be standing across from the very building that they were looking for.

He knew they couldn't enter through the front door; that would look too suspicious and be too obvious, they'd probably get caught the moment they set foot in that place. Oboeru motioned to Kyuua that they were going to make a dash across the street and head around to the back of the building where they could enter with ease. He also told her that they'd have to be very quiet in there, as their lives might depend on it.

Kyuua looked nervously at the Houndour she loved. She was nervous, very nervous at his intentions. Were they good, were they bad? She didn't know, and she figured she never would because she wasn't about to ask. She didn't want to run away and leave him to do whatever he was doing alone, so she figured she might as well just brave whatever was thrown at her and follow him to the end.

---

Oh man, was I nervous. I never thought anyone could be so nervous, but MAN I was wrong. I followed Jillian and walked next to Ren, who was also looking a little nervous. I hoped that we didn't have to face off against any of amber's Pokémon, because they sure were strong and she knew Ren wasn't that strong, even if he did have a type advantage.

We were walking through a hallway, with black tiles everywhere, cold under my feet and covering the walls and ceilings too. Derek was leading us to Giovanni, I knew that much, so that he could meet Jill and make her an official member of Team Rocket. Hopefully though, we'd be rid of Amber before she was bound to anything.

Ren and I looked around for any signs of Amber. I knew her pretty well, and If I was any good at remembering things, she would have a pink door with an 'A' on it, the same one she bragged about to Ailis way back when they were still friends.

Soon we came to another hallway, creating a four way intersection. I looked quickly down each. Derek turned right, with Jillian following, but that large, menacing, evil, ugly, horrid, pink door was down to our left. Ren and I turned down that black tiled hallway, and as we did, I looked back at Jill and wished her good luck.

---

They found the back entrance, while Oboeru was wondering why they even had one. That was pretty stupid, but pretty convenient too. He and Kyuua combined successfully pushed the door open and headed into the building, covered in black tiles all around. They gave each other a nervous glance and continued into the building, climbing many sets of stairs and walking through many hallways and passing many doors apprehensively…

"Oboeru…" Kyuua asked while looking around at the smooth ebony tiles, each one the same, and the hallway. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Nope. Not even close. This place is so big I'm not sure where anything is anymore. All I do know is that we're looking for a lab of some sort." He said as they climbed a set of stairs and came upon a four way intersection.

Kyuua looked ahead to see a large white door that said 'Secret Lab' on it.

"Like that one?" She asked pointing to the door.

---

There was no one in Amber's room. No one except for her Pokémon, that is.

Ren and I slinked through the door, making sure to stay real quiet, because the moment we opened the door we could see them, all laying about in the middle of the huge room. We hid behind one of Ambers dressers and snuck out farther, hidden in her pokedolls.

I could distinctly hear Udia's voice. I poked my head out from behind a Mareep doll and saw that indeed it was the Camerupt who was speaking.

"I can't wait till the Global Warming Machine is ready." She said happily.

What? Global warming?

Amber's Blaziken, Kaen, nodded and smiled. "Then it will be warm all the time, instead of us having to go through that horrid winter."

Many of the others nodded.

No winter? What were they talking about? What machine could ever warm up the world?

At that moment I started to worry.

---

Luckily, the lab was empty. All that was surrounding the pair of dog Pokémon was white, the plainest white either of them had ever seen. Everything in there was white; the machines making electronic blurring noises, the tile on the walls and floors, and just…everything.

Boy, were these Team Rocket people dumb. Well, it wasn't really a surprise that there was a sign right in front of the Machine labeled 'Global Warming Machine', if Amber was a member. Oboeru sighed a sigh of pure relief whilst Kyuua just looked all around her, feeling exposed. He gave her a great smile. "This is what I've been looking for." He explained.

Quickly and lightly he stepped closer to the big machine. It was so huge, in fact, he didn't know where to start. He motioned for Kyuua to come and help him, and he began his assault with an Ember, and Kyuua a Tackle, resulting in the first large dent in the machine.

---

Ren and I listened to their conversations for quite a while, it felt like. We soon discovered all about the Global Warming Machine, and I was more frantic than ever. That, and eager to kill Amber and stop her plans to stop all water Pokémon. She was eviler than I thought. Or maybe that was just Giovanni.

The Vaporeon next to me nudged me and tried to make motions to me about what we should do. But I couldn't understand him. _What are you waiting for? You and Ren have a type advantage over all five of them, and you can send out a surprise attack! Why do you not strike? _I began to get a headache from my returned conscience banging around in my head, telling me to go, attack now! But I couldn't! I didn't know what I was waiting for. My mind was so hazy, I was so confused, devastated, hurt, _scared_...

What were we waiting for? Surely if we attacked them then, then we wouldn't have to deal with Amber giving them orders if she arrived before we did attack them. If we dealt with them before hand, then we'd only have to take out Amber, and that would be as easy as pie.

But it looked like it wasn't going to turn out that way.

---

There was a soft Howl from the Poochyena, raising Kyuua's Attack. The Machine was almost done for, it had been Embered and Bitten and Tackled so many times it almost wasn't recognizable anymore. Oboeru dug his claws into what looked like the on and off switch, and it let out a few electrical sparks. The whole thing made a whirling sound that got deeper and deeper, until it was only a faint grumble, and then it was gone.

After one more Tackle from Kyuua, they both deemed it no longer usable. It was damaged from the inside out. They put their backs up against it and slid down to a sitting position with a smile on each of their faces.

"We did it." Kyuua grinned, and laughed a little, lightening the mood. Oboeru sighed and laughed a little too.

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

The two dog Pokémon headed for the large door, and opened it. With one last look at the machine, Oboeru let out a couple of Smog's, and they shut the door tight.

"_Higeki, you're safe."_

---

Jillian shifted uncomfortable on the chair next to Derek and opposite from Giovanni in his office. Derek had explained to her that he had flown out from his private island to see her, so she should be grateful and polite. She only nodded and tried her best to feign impressing the big boss. They were now on the verge of the end of the meeting, and Jillian was still as nervous as heck. _Oh Ama, please hurry…_

---

At that very moment, Amber walked into the room. I cursed myself inwardly with about every curse word known to Human and Pokémon. I looked over to Ren, who had this stern, angry look on his face, like he was thinking the same thing. Oh well, we would just have to do this the hard way…

Lucky for us, she called her Pokémon back into their pokeballs first thing. As soon as the last one was in, I nudged Ren again and jumped out from behind the dolls.

Boy was she as ugly as ever. She just had this blank, kind of wide-eyed look on her face, something only a stupid person could pull off. I wasted no time waiting for Ren or even for her to call out any of her Pokémon.

"You!" I growled. She just stood there.

"You killed my family!" I could feel the anger bubbling within me.

"You ruined my life, and my home!" My rage was twisting and rising with every word. I could feel it, all the pain, all the anger, all the hurt, just sitting there inside me, starting to flow over. It seemed that once I had said them aloud, I realized even more how much it hurt.

"Now you're going to _die_!"

The first thing I did was launch a Quick Attack right at her legs, as she reached for one two of the pokeballs around her waist as soon as she saw Ren jump out behind me.

I felt my skull collide with her legs very soon, and felt her buckle down. As she fell she released the two of her Pokémon.

I looked at them with so much anger, so much hurt, and so much longing, longing for this to have never happened. I had once been friends with these Pokémon, and now what was I doing? I was to fight them, even if I didn't want to.

I faced Udia, while Ren faced Agni. Their eyes weren't the same, but I'm sure mine weren't either.

At first I sent an Aqua Jet at her, which hit her straight in her eyes and gave her a burn mark, since she was too slow to dodge it. I felt I had the full advantage, even if I wasn't as strong as her; my Speed was higher and I did have a Type advantage.

She reared up and slammed her hooves into the ground, sending an Earthquake through the room, creating large fissures in the playing field. She caught me in one, and I receive a large gash on my leg. I growled as I struggled to free myself from the crack.

She just stood there, looking sad, like she was about to cry. I didn't care. As I freed myself I let out a Swift, but this time she didn't fight back. I turned my head a minute as she was knocked down to see how Ren was doing. Turns out I picked just the right minute to look because at that moment he was knocked into a wall by Agni's tail, only he didn't look angry or happy, he looked hurt, and sad, just like Udia. Just then I realized Amber was commanding them, and that she had a stronger hold on them than I thought.

There was a loud crack as Ren hit the wall, followed by me shouting his name in an ear-splitting scream. There was blood all around him.

---

Just as Kyuua and Oboeru were about to try and find the way they came from, there was a very loud scream. Oboeru froze, and a shiver shook his spine. Kyuua looked back at him uncertainly. "What was that?" she asked.

"Higeki…" he replied quietly and then turned back down the hallway, and down to the large pink door with an 'A' on it. He recognized this room. But he also recognized the scent of a certain Buizel that was leading him to the door. His shiny Poochyena friend followed him tentatively.

---

I let out all my anger into one, long Swift, spraying the star shaped ray into any and every direction, knocking Agni, Udia, and Amber all to the ground, and then, as quickly as I could, I ran over to Ren.

"Ren, no…Ren, please wake up…" I shook him as sobs wracked my chest and body. I pulled him close to me, but he was cold. As soon as I flipped him over and stared into his eyes, I knew he was dead. I let him down lightly back into the pool of his own blood, which I was covered in now, and turned to Amber.

"You!" I growled as I dashed to the girl lying on the floor. She whimpered as I climbed up closer to her face, and looked into her eyes.

"You've killed almost everything that's ever been dear to me!!" I screamed so furiously it hurt my throat. "That's it!!"

As I dug my fangs into her wind pipe, I knew she was done for. I came in deeper and deeper, and raked her face with my claws. I couldn't help it, she was in my grasp and she was going to die. Slow and painfully, just as I had promised myself. She was going to pay for everything she had ever done to me, and to the ones I knew and loved, and even those I never did and never will know.

As I watched the life drain from her body, I heard the door open. I must have been such a frightful sight to that one who opened the door, covered in blood and standing over a dead human with fang and claw marks on their face and neck, and blood bubbling from Amber's mouth, but nothing else seemed to matter in that moment.

Because in that moment, the one person I wanted to see the most opened the door and looked at me the way I looked at him.

"Oboeru…" I mumbled, simply stuck for words.

He also whispered my name. "Higeki…"

The next thing I know I've got the biggest smile on my face and tears are tremendously falling down my face, in sorrow and joy all at once. But all that mattered right then was that he was here; not how he got there or why he was there, it was just a miracle that we had met again.

We ran to each other and I did something I had wanted to do for so long; I pushed my nose up against his and licked his muzzle, with him returning the gesture. I rubbed my head along under and along his neck, and he rubbed hid head on mine. I snuggled into his fur, so warm, so welcoming.

The next thing was a white light. I felt my body changing, swerving, twisting, and as it did so, I watched him change as well. He became taller, and lean. His once lovable ears grew into fearsome horns and his short stubby tail grew out long, with an arrow at the end. I couldn't believe what I was seeing; He had evolved.

And as I looked down upon myself when the white light disappeared, I found I too had evolved.

---


	9. Happily Ever After

**Incandescence – Epilogue**

Hey, what are you still doing here? Come back for the rest, you say? Well of course, I'd be glad to tell you about it.

Jillian exited the building and found us with Ren.

Nurse Joy, that stalker, confirmed he was dead. He would not be coming back.

Since Oboeru decided to stay with us, Jillian bought him his own Darkball and gave him a new nickname: Orran.

Kyuua, as she was introduced to me back in the building, returned to her pack of dog Pokémon and soon became the mate to one of Mere's sons, who are now ruling the pack peacefully, since they've long found other packs of wild Pokémon to hunt in their new territory.

Derek walked into the Smogged Lab and suffered and unfortunate death.

I myself have settled down; Orran, Jillian and her team and I returned to her home in Hearthome City, back in Sinnoh. She got a letter from Team Rocket stating she'd have to come back another time for another interview, because of a death in the family. She's also promised to take me back to Phoenix Town Beach someday, which I look forward to.

And something else exciting is happening;

I'm going to be a mother.

---

**-CREDITS-**

Pokemon belongs to some rich guy XD

Original Characters belong to me, except for Amber and Derek, who are based off of real people XD and I really do dislike them.

Plots belong to me (mostly)

Thanks to – All my reviewers, Torayuri, Cune, Sirnight777, Blissey, AwesomeRapidash and TheThinker, for inspiring me to write more and finish Incandescence to the end, and for making me the happiest writer in the world XD

---

**-NAMES-**

Higeki – Tragedy

Ailis – Of Noble Kind

Zaakir – Remembering, Grateful

Ren – Water Lily

Jillian – Down-bearded youth

Kyuua- Persistant Disease (because Poochyena's are persistant and Dark type)

Mere –Mother

Dabe – Father

Well that's it folks! It's all done! Wow! I'm so proud of myself right now. Eight chapters, twenty thousand and something words, almost 58 pages long, and it's the first story I've ever truly finished and have been happy with it. I'm bubbling with excitement and can't wait to start my new story, AFitFS, after I get some planning done. Actually, I'm still working it out in my head and trying to figure out what I want to write about. The summary in my profile (hint hint) is unofficial, since I haven't got that many opinions on the Eeveelution in the story. So far it's

Leafeon: 3

Flareon/Vaporeon/Jolteon: 1 each

And I'm not sure about Leafeon. Sure, there are only 2 Leafeon fics, and Flareon has the least of the original trio, (12) so I'm still debating…I was going to do it on Flareon and Glaceon, but people like Leafeon, and I want to make you peoples happy…and on the other hand, I really like Umbreon…Maybe I'll find a way to fit them all into one big fic.

Oh, and the sequel, that's right! I'm sure you're wanting to hear about THAT. I have one almost all planned out, I just need to write it, called Luminescence. Could this be a bigger evil than Amber?

I 'm not going to start typing it until I figure out my Eeveelution fic though. But look for it soon!

Once again, thank you all for reading.

-KRZ


End file.
